Saturday, August 05, 2006

Sardegna is a wonderful place, beautiful beaches, great savory foods, and some fantastic wines. When I think of Sardegna, La Maddalena, Cannonau, and Vermentino come to mind. La Maddalena has beautiful beaches, Cannonau is a hearty red wine from Sassari, and Vermentino is a flavorful white wine with a great deal of personality. This wine could be seen as the antagonist to Pinot Bianco. Vermentino tastes like Sardegna, full bodied, distinct earthy flavors of Juniper, Mimosa, and ripe golden apples.

On my first trip to Sardegna I was treated to six weeks of fish. Fish Carpaccio, fried fish, baked fish, fish in red sauce, and fish under salt; fish of all sizes, shapes and varieties including shark, swordfish, calamari, shellfish and even sea snails were part of the evening meals. When Raffaella decided to prepare Tagliatelle with Scampi, the bottle of Vermentino inside the wine cooler started jumping up and down saying, “Choose me, Choose me!” Ok, it was not jumping, the shelves are too tight, but it was screaming, “Com’on, with shrimp what wine can be more appropriate.” [This is a very liberal translation of Sardo.]

I popped the cork, stuck the joyous bottle in the iced wine stand and went to cut the basil for a quick Bruschetta before dinner. Upon my return, it seems that the bottle had been talking to Raffaella as well, a stemmed glass sat lonely on the table, glimmering with a bit of humidity, while Raffaella jealously kept her glass in the kitchen by the stove. A quick sip, a toast to my bebe’, and I move on to the Bruschetta. A bit of Olive Oil, grated garlic and fresh basil on slice Tuscan bread. The distinct flavor of Vermentino is a good match and the slight citrus aftertaste neutralizes the garlic with each sip making every morsel a mouthful of flavor.

The pasta is a great choice on this hot summer evening. The shrimp give just enough consistency with the pasta to satisfy the appetite without weighing us down. The Vermentino, although not the right choice for every dish, is perfect with fish and evokes memories of wonderful vacations in Sardegna.Grape: Vermentino 100%.

You know I always enjoy reading your posts and this one really made my mouth watering. I do agree with your recomondation but talking about wine and fish: in Norway we use red wine with fish too, especially with cod. Are we the only one?

Many people drink only reds or whites and will drink their favorites no matter what they eat.

The reason white wine is usually the most appropriate for fish is that most red wines would overpower most fish plates. White wines have more subtle flavors that accentuate grilled or saute'ed fish recipes. When the fish is prepared in a way that is very savory then some red wines will work well.

If we are doing multi-fish soups or Mare e Monti (surf and mountains) then we will usually go with a clean, medium-bodied red.